Work Text:
Sonic felt the rush of the wind zip by him as he raced towards their imaginary finishing line. Shadow was right next to him, sparks flying from his shoes as he skated along the earth, moving like a cobra chasing after its next meal.
It was mesmorizing, even after years of racing him, Sonic couldn’t get used to how fluidly he moved. Shadow was focused on the goal, unlike Sonic, who couldn't get through a race with his ‘rival’ without looking at him at least three times.
“Pay attention, faker,” Shadow called out to him, catching his staring. Sonic stuck out his tongue and sped up, cutting Shadow off with a laugh. “So that’s how you want to race?” Shadow disappeared, reappearing ahead in a flash.
Instead of annoyance, Sonic felt giddy, happy even, and that never happened when he was losing, unless he was losing to Shadow. The bubbly feeling in his chest always appeared when the ebony hedgehog was around and it made everything they did enjoyable. He used to only feel it when he was running with no destination in mind, no battles to fight, no one to help, just himself and the earth under his feet.
The feeling had begun to dwindle over the years as Eggman and the other threats to the world grew stronger, as Sonic grew older and his free time grew shorter.
Then one day, Shadow asked Sonic to a race (that he did NOT lose no matter what Shadow says) and Sonic felt it again. It was like a breath of fresh air, a jolt to his system, and it was all because of Shadow.
And he couldn’t let it go. He wouldn’t let it go now that he had it again.
He caught up to Shadow, though admittedly he was still not fast enough as they skidded to a stop at Amy’s front door. Shadow looked at him with a curious expression, eyes brighter under the porch light. He tilted his head, a silent ‘are you okay’ in the air between them. Sonic reached for his hand, smiling when their fingers intertwined. This seemed to relax Shadow, pushing his worries aside.
“Ah, finally!” Amy exclaimed, throwing the door open before Sonic could say anything. “I was getting worried.”
“Sorry we’re late,” Shadow apologized, pulling Sonic into the house with him. Almost everyone was in the living room, the coffee table piled high with pillows and blankets and anything else they needed for movie night.
“Hey guys,” Sonic said as Shadow helped him take off his coat. Shadow always did stuff like that for him; he held open doors, watched Sonic’s back during battles, let him pick chili dogs for lunch everytime Sonic won a race AND paid for them. “Thanks Shads.”
It was romantic and if it were anyone else doing that stuff, especially protecting him in a battle with Eggman, he would hate it. He could take care of himself, but he found himself enjoying it when Shadow was the one doing it for him. It didn’t make him feel guilty to rely on Shadow, and he knew he was always in good hands with him, even if Shadow would complain about how reckless he was the whole time.
“Hm,” Shadow mumbled, though Sonic knew it meant ‘you’re welcome, my most darling and handsome boyfriend’.
Shadow had such a way with murmurs and grunts.
“There are our love birds,” Rouge said, hanging up a string of twinkling lights around the room. “Don’t worry about being late, Tails and Knuckles roughhoused a little too hard and knocked down the lights.”
Sonic raised his eyebrows as he stepped into the living room with a sigh. “Trouble without me?”
“It was an accident!” Tails exclaimed, cheeks getting red. Sonic glanced behind him when he felt Shadow step away from him and saw him retreat into the kitchen with Amy, who was chatting a mile a minute. Sonic glanced back at Tails and smiled at him, not able to pretend to be disappointed in his little brother.
“You and Knux just stay on the ground, 'kay?” He said while Knuckles rolled his eyes. He crossed the room, helping Rouge the best he could. “You guys should’ve called, we would’ve come sooner.”
“Shadow gets mad when I cut your date nights short,” Rouge said with a smirk, pinning a string of lights in place. Sonic blushed, smiling widely at the information he already knew, but loved hearing anyway. “You really got a hold on him, blue, I am impressed. You should’ve seen him at work yesterday when they tried to assign him a month-long undercover mission.”
“Did he flip a table?” Sonic asked and something in his expression must have been funny to Rouge as she laughed, her smile wide and genuine. His mind raced with scenarios, each one funnier than the last. “Did he curse them out?”
Shadow was dedicated to his job, and a damn good agent, but he was selective with the jobs he took. Once he and Sonic began dating, he began to deny any that would take longer for a week. Sonic reassured him it was okay, they would be fine if they needed to be apart for a bit for work, but Shadow crossed his arms and said he didn’t want work to interfere with their relationship.
Sonic did cartwheels in his mind, barely holding back from running in circles when Shadow said that.
“Oh, he-” she stopped short, looking across the room. “He’s giving me the ‘don’t you dare’ stare so I better not say, but it was quite entertaining….I’ll see if I can get the security footage for you.”
“You’re the best,” Sonic whispered, then smiled in Shadow’s direction. Shadow’s stare held like he knew they were up to no good before it softened when Sonic met his eyes. Sonic could feel his heart flip, quills straightening when he locked eyes with Shadow. He turned to look back at Rouge, who gave him a knowing smirk as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe I could cover a watch of the master emerald so Knucklehead can take you on a date?”
“See, now this is why I told Shadow to ask you out,” Rouge said with a quick pinch of Sonic’s cheek, all affection with no bite. “He paced a hole into my entryway rug the day he confessed to you.”
“Really?” Sonic asked, eyes wide.
“What are you telling him?” Shadow was at his side, a hand on his arm to steady him when he flinched, startled by Shadow’s sudden appearance. “You have a gleam of mischievousness in your eyes that is never a good sign, especially when the two of you are together.”
“Aw, Shads, she’s just telling me how nervous you were to ask me out,” Sonic smiled as Shadow’s ears flicked and he crossed his arms. Sonic grabbed onto his arm, forcing him to uncross them as he hugged it. “You are such a romantic!”
“Unhand me,” Shadow muttered, but didn’t do anything to push Sonic away. Sonic chuckled, pleased that he was the only one (other than Rouge which he respected) that could act like this to Shadow and not get shoved away. “If you’re both done with the lights and gossiping, everyone would like to start the movie.”
“Yeah!” Sonic raced over to their spot on the floor, right next to Tails. He patted the spot on the other side of him as if Shadow was going to sit anywhere else. “Oh, wait, do we have snacks?”
“Of course,” Amy brought out a tray and set it on the coffee table once Knuckles cleared it of pillow and blankets. “Shadow was a gentleman and helped me get it together.”
Sonic beamed at the praise, feeling proud even though it wasn’t his own accomplishment. Shadow shrugged but gave Amy a small smile when he passed by her to come sit by Sonic. He felt his legs twitch and he wanted to tap his foot or go run a mile or two until Shadow settled down next to him, pressing their arms together and calming Sonic down.
He resisted the urge to lean against Shadow or put his legs in his lap like they did at Shadow’s place, where they were alone and Sonic could be as lovesick as he wanted to be without his friends teasing them about it endlessly.
Amy turned off the overhead lights, the twinkle lights illuminating the space in a warm gold. Sonic reached for a handful of popcorn while the move started, then grabbed the whole bowl when he got too lazy to continue to reach for it. He and Tails split it while Shadow took hold of his free hand, entwining their fingers again.
Throughout the movie, Sonic relaxed more and more until he shifted to be half on top of Shadow, who moved his arm around Sonic’s waist and pulled him in closer. Sonic smiled against Shadow’s shoulder, inhaling the scent of earth and coffee, the scent of Shadow.
Sonic didn’t care about the movie anymore, he just wanted to melt into his boyfriend for the rest of the evening. He felt Shadow’s hand card through his quills and a rumble came from his chest. He blushed, trying to calm himself to quiet the purr that wanted to make itself known to everyone in the room.
“Tails, could you turn up the volume?” Shadow asked, continuing to run his fingers through Sonic’s quills. Tails nodded his head and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume, thus making Sonic feel less self-conscious about his purring. “Better?” Shadow asked, voice low in Sonic’s ear.
“Mmhm,” Sonic sighed, letting his eyes close. The past week had been long with multiple Eggman attacks, and he hadn’t realized how tired he was until now. He had seen the movie before, so it would be fine if he closed his eyes for a few moments.
At some point the peace was broken. Knuckles screamed, a bowl of popcorn flew through the air, and Sonic tried to sit up to figure out what was going on but Shadow held onto him tightly, caging him in his arms in a protective manner.
“Knuckles!” Amy exclaimed, pausing the movie when Knuckles jumped out of his seat. “What is wrong?”
“Something crawled on my leg!” He said, shaking one of his legs.
“It was my hand you idiot,” Rouge muttered and Sonic froze as Shadow laughed, hard. His hold on Sonic loosened as he leaned forward. “Don’t laugh at me!” Rouge screamed, making Shadow laugh more. Sonic watched Shadow, warmth spreading all over his body.
God, he loved him. So much.
The thought had him pausing, shutting his mouth before he could blurt it out in front of everyone.
He loved his friends, he loved running, he loved beating Eggman and he loved chili dogs, but he had never loved someone romantically. He had also never had someone treat him the way Shadow does, someone who challenges him every day, who makes sure he dresses properly for the weather, who would protect him without knowing the risks, who didn’t treat him like he was a hero who could never falter.
“You’re so cute,” Sonic said instead, teasing Shadow the same way Rouge had teased him earlier by pinching his cheeks. “Also Rouge is going to kill you.”
“Maybe,” Shadow mumbled, calming down, muzzle pink. He relaxed against the foot of the couch, gesturing for Sonic to take his spot again.
His spot.
They watched the rest of the movie in peace, then helped Amy clean up before saying their goodbyes, all heading in different directions for the night.
Sonic leaned against Shadow as they walked back to his place for the night, content to walk in silence for once. Shadow always made the silence comfortable.
“You’re quiet,” Shadow mumbled, taking Sonic’s hand as they kept walking. Sonic squeezed his hand, smiling when Shadow squeezed it back. “It’s never a good sign when you’re quiet.”
“Hey,” Sonic said, eying Shadow. “And here I was, about to confess my love for you… never mind.” He kept walking as Shadow stopped, pulling Sonic back. Shadow’s eyes were wide and he held on tightly to Sonic’s hand.
“You love me? Why?” Shadow asked, then frowned and looked away, like he didn’t mean to say the second question aloud. He always looked away when he felt he spoke out of turn or unnecessarily. Sonic stepped closer to him, taking his other hand so he could squeeze them both.
“Shads, c’mon,” Sonic said, getting his boyfriend to look at him again. “You make me feel so free, kinda like I’m a kid again with no problems because I know you have my back. I can relax around you. I don’t have to be a hero all the time. Plus, you race me whenever I want!” Shadow rolled his eyes at that, making Sonic smile. “And no one has ever seen me the way you’ve seen me, and I don’t want ‘em too ,” Sonic said, removing his hands to wrap them around Shadow, giving him a hug.
Shadow hugged him back, nuzzling against Sonic’s neck with a sigh.
“I…feel the same. You make me anxious, but in a good way,” Shadow said, getting a chuckle out of Sonic. “Also, I destroyed that security footage Rouge promised you.”
“What?!” Sonic pulled back, a pout already forming on his face. “But, but Shadsssssss, I wanted to see how upset you got at the thought of being away from me for a month!”
“I think you’ll live,” Shadow said, taking a step back to continue the walk home. “Besides, you have an imagination, use it.”
“Fine, but to make up for it, tell me about the first time you saw me,” Sonic latched onto his arm like Amy had done to him a million times before, almost knocking Shadow off his feet.
“I found you to be annoyed and an obstacle in my way. Happy?”
“No, the time you first saw me and you realized you actually enjoyed being around me.”
“Ah, well I found you annoying and-”
“Nevermind.”